Kingdom

There are two kinds of Betheanians, those with ancestors from across the sea from Eastern Réne, and those who came from within the continent and came down from the eastern mountains.

Réneian Descent: These tend to have a much darker and varied shades of skin. Darker hair including blacks, chestnut and browns, and similar coloured eyes, including the famous ‘Yeux Grenat’ (Garnet eyes) that are said to have a red hue. Typically, they have more rounded faces and jaws, are smaller with refined features.

In-Continent Descent: These have paler, more ruddy skin, more likely to burn or flush. Bright hair including blonde and famously red, with very pale eyes mainly between blues and greens. They tend to have long bodies and shorter legs, long faces and very strong features.

There are two typical accents in Bethean, though there are several variations of both:

Northern and Easten Bethean: (Closer to Harmatia & Avalon) Softer and more poetic, with a soft vowel and pronounced consonant.

Southern and Western Bethean: (Along the Coast) A little harder on the vowel, more guttural, with raised inflections and glottal stops.

KINGDOM STRUCTURE

Bethean was the first and remains the only human ruled country that has formed an official alliance with the Seelie Court. Known as the ‘Bountiful land’, Bethean’s riches lie in its soil. Unlike Harmatia and Kathra, most of Bethean is made up of small shires, where a community creates its own council which in-turn answer to the King. Whilst, Bethean does possess a nobility most can trace their ancestry back to a farming origin and are rich in land rather than gold or property.

Bethean is also one of the only countries where women have equal inheritance rights to men and are permitted to be knights, join and even command armies.

Shires:

Sarrin: Northern most county on the North-eastern edge of the Myrithian woods. A small shire made of a village known as ‘Sarrin-Town’ which is famous for its apples and mead. The surrounding area of the country is made up of fields. The patron of most of the land is Michael Rossignol, a cloth merchant who keeps an orchard and bees.

Killian: A port town in the south-east of Bethean. Like its brothering port in Lemra, Killian is a popular boarding spot for pirates, though they tend to be of a higher class than those in Lemra.

Maeth: South of Sarrin. Maeth is a larger shire, and is famous for its trade in wheat, barley and pork.

Borgowyne: Known as the ‘Duck and Hare County’, Borgowyne has several lakes and is a famous spot for hunting poultry and small animals.

Taram: Situated in the centre of the country, it houses the capital of Bethean where the King commands from.

Ariffglenn: Known as the beautiful Shire, Ariffglenn is in the far east onto Avalon. It is extremely picturesque with both mountains, sea-side, fresh-water lakes and waterfalls and valleys.

Brexiam: A small, discreet shire in the north-west, that exists in the hollow of the woodland. It is said that there is a small settlement there where Knights of the Delphi train, but this is unprecedented and has never been proven.

Lemra: A port town infamous for its crime-rate and vulgar slang. Lemra is said to be made up almost entirely of sailors, thieves and assassins and has a lot of pirate activity. It is by far the most dangerous city in Bethean, but remains one of the most vital ports in the south. Lemra is also famous for ‘Silk Skirts’, also known as ‘Whoopsies’ which refers to men who enjoy wearing women’s clothing recreationally. Lemra is known as ‘The Pit’ in Lemra’n slang. (For more Lemra’n slang, go here.)

Beshuwa: Just South of Arrifglenn, and not far from Lemra, Beshuwa was historically a port town as well, however, due to tide changes, the town of Beshuwa is very much inland now. Beshuwa is famous for its whores, and parts of it are considered unruly.

THE ALLIANCE

Bethean have an alliance with the Seelie Court of Avalon. The alliance means that members of the Seelie Court are free to pass through and live in Bethean, and are considered friends and allies to all. However, they are not allowed to kill or harm Betheanians (unless under Betheanian law they do it in self-defence.) The Seelie Court are presented with a certain bounty per year by the King, and in return promise to protect Bethean from members of the UnSeelie Court, such as Korrigans or the like.